Community Chat

[Katcat1]

As long as you do not stink, do what you want.  You can always shower one day and freshen up the next with wipes or something on that order.  Not bathing for days is not an option.  Showering always feels good.

[Porcelain]

I exercise every day, so I have to shower every day. But I use very mild bodywash. And since I wear sunscreen almost everyday, I have to wash my face twice a day. I'm careful not to overstrip my skin. Just don't use soap.

And Gross Alert: If you don't own a bidet, as an adult you really do need to (again, gently) wash that area daily. If you know what I mean.

In the past, our ancestors stank. Adults smelled like BO and they covered it with strong perfumes. And they died of simple infections.

[Witchy Woman]

@gertrudecloset 

Seems this has caused a big stir and discussion amongst some "stars."  Dwane Johnson chimed in and said he showers frequently.

Of course, what any of them do is their personal business, but I wonder what the compulsion is to discuss all these details of ones hygiene.  This falls into the category of some things being better left unsaid.

What next?  The frequency of toenail clipping?  I don't get it, but don't have to...wash, don't wash. 

However, on this matter, my husband knows if ever there comes a time when I am not taking a shower or expressing a desire to shower and have clean sheets and clothing, he should be concerned about my mental state. 

[gertrudecloset]

---

@Porcelain wrote:

I exercise every day, so I have to shower every day. But I use very mild bodywash. And since I wear sunscreen almost everyday, I have to wash my face twice a day. I'm careful not to overstrip my skin. Just don't use soap.

And Gross Alert: If you don't own a bidet, as an adult you really do need to (again, gently) wash that area daily. If you know what I mean.

In the past, our ancestors stank. Adults smelled like BO and they covered it with strong perfumes. And they died of simple infections.

---

Sounds like perfect sense to me.  Our ancestors died of simple infections caused by what?  Lack of medication or the germs on their bodies @Porcelain ?  Just curious.  When people migrated from Europe to the States they did bring disease with them, but I don't believe they were from not bathing.

[Susan Louise]

What a quandary..........LOL

[Jersey Born]

Right back 'atcha @gertrudecloset.  I shower daily using soap, because I like to do so, not because a celebrity, or a non-celebrity, tells me otherwise. It is what I like to do for my personal hygiene.  

If you feel differently about the topic, that's fine; bathing your own body either with or without soap is solely your decision. And, yes, I can most certainly differentiate between the two.     

[gertrudecloset]

---

@Jersey Born wrote:

Right back 'atcha @gertrudecloset.  I shower daily using soap, because I like to do so, not because a celebrity, or a non-celebrity, tells me otherwise. It is what I like to do for my personal hygiene.  

If you feel differently about the topic, that's fine; bathing your own body either with or without soap is solely your decision. And, yes, I can most certainly differentiate between the two.     

---

@Jersey Bornthen all you have to do is speak to the subject matter.  The stars are not the subject of this discussion.  If they were, I would have put them in the title of the thread.  To bathe daily or not is the subject matter.  Don't try to be slick either.  I do what's best for me which is to bathe on a daily basis.  I never gave anyone the inclination that I didn't.

[Lipstickdiva]

---

@ROMARY wrote:

I really don't know if I'm imagining this, or overheard my parents talking about the olden days, etc.

I more or less recall taking a weekly (or maybe every other day or every two days) bath?  Was it when I was a youngster?  Or older?

Anyone here recall the same?

Or Maybe It's Just My Imagination (song, The Temptations).

---

@ROMARY my mother had a LOT of siblings. They all only got to bathe (not shower) once a week.  And they used the same water for X number of kids, changed it, and then bathed the rest of them. 

I am another that suffers from super dry skin and always have.   I specifically remember my mother talking to the doctor about it when I was little and he told my mom I shouldn't take a bath or shower every day unless I was really dirty and that I needed to watch the temp of the water. 

I love super hot water which of course doesn't help my problem.  

[Porcelain]

---

@gertrudecloset wrote:

---

@Porcelain wrote:

I exercise every day, so I have to shower every day. But I use very mild bodywash. And since I wear sunscreen almost everyday, I have to wash my face twice a day. I'm careful not to overstrip my skin. Just don't use soap.

And Gross Alert: If you don't own a bidet, as an adult you really do need to (again, gently) wash that area daily. If you know what I mean.

In the past, our ancestors stank. Adults smelled like BO and they covered it with strong perfumes. And they died of simple infections.

---

Sounds like perfect sense to me.  Our ancestors died of simple infections caused by what?  Lack of medication or the germs on their bodies @Porcelain ?  Just curious.  When people migrated from Europe to the States they did bring disease with them, but I don't believe they were from not bathing.

---

I love the history of daily life. Totally fascinates me. But topics like this on ruin historical romances for me. I can't help thinking the heroes must all have horrendous bad breath and all the heroines must smell yeasty.

People didn't wash with water. In Europe water was usually polluted, so no one trusted it. Everyone thought it carried disease. Which was often true, to be fair. So it was actually considered unclean to bathe or wash with water, or drink it unless it was from a known spring like the one in Bath. Vinegar or alcohol, often cologne, was preferred for washing. And that caused its own problems.

It wasn't until well into the 1800s that a connection between obstetric doctors not washing hands and sepsis from childbirth was even discovered. And even then people refused to believe it. Even the doctors.

Simple infections often started due to poor hygiene and were made fatal by lack of medical knowledge. I think we basically agree about that.

Oddly enough, cleanliness had to do with how clean your linen underclothes were, not your body. Your clean undershirt/slip thingy would peek out and show at your collar and cuffs, and it needed to be spotless or you had to change.

People wore a fresh undershirt every day, and sometimes changed it multiple times a day. Dressing for dinner had an actual reason for it besides putting on something fancier: To take off your stinky undershirt/slip that got all dank during the day and put on a fresh, clean one.

[AuntG]

Think this is such a non story. Kids should be bathed only when dirty. My husband came from a large family where the Saturday night bath was common for the younger kids. That's not to say a washcloth was used in between their baths.